Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1 Peterborough 0

[OldBlueLady]

Was racking my brains to think who Harding reminded me of, and yes, you're quite right about it being Pearce! Worth also pointing out how he got felled like he'd been shot by a thumped clearance from Bailey in our goal area, but got up very quickly and was right back into things. Liked his style of play and there's the making of a very good defensive line up here in my opinion.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

Was racking my brains to think who Harding reminded me of, and yes, you're quite right about it being Pearce! Worth also pointing out how he got felled like he'd been shot by a thumped clearance from Bailey in our goal area, but got up very quickly and was right back into things. Liked his style of play and there's the making of a very good defensive line up here in my opinion.

Harding didn't have the best of luck yesterday when it came to getting hurt. Sod's Law being what it is I'm surprised he finished the game after the lengths we went to to find a left-back.

First there was the incident in the first half when he appeared to hurt his ankle and stayed down for a long time, then the clearance blasted straight at him from point blank range. He was also involved in a high speed collision late on which knocked him down hard, but credit to him for springing back up.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Harding didn't have the best of luck yesterday when it came to getting hurt. Sod's Law being what it is I'm surprised he finished the game after the lengths we went to to find a left-back.

First there was the incident in the first half when he appeared to hurt his ankle and stayed down for a long time, then the clearance blasted straight at him from point blank range. He was also involved in a high speed collision late on which knocked him down hard, but credit to him for springing back up.

Yeah - the Chumbawumba song was made for him yesterday!

 

[DTS]

It might of been the beers before hand but disagree with the majority on here.

I thought Francky Moussa did a really good job today. I think he does the dirty role really well, tracking people and getting a foot in here and there. I dont think he is the finished article by any means but he did well.

Walker I thought was superb at times considering he was out of position. He worked hard and his body strength was immense at times. He seemed to have an extra bit of pace compared to his marker and made some mazy runs which Pboro has no answer too.

Harding I thought was basic. Did nothing wrong but lost so many headers and looked a bit weak going forward. Happy to keep going forward with him but still not sure he is better than Muglrew all be it one game is tough to judge.

Scanell was annoymous and really a disapointment compared to all the hype I had read on here.

Other than that very happy despite creating very few chances.

 

[* ORM *]

when you have a keeper effectively acting as a fifth defender it makes one hell of a difference. Also helps when your centre half isn't running around like a headless chicken. Perfect evaluation of the game fbm. Don't agree with all ratings but why split hairs. The second half performance was very encouraging.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Thursdays other new addition, Betsy, came on with 18 minutes left and almost immediately was instrumental in winning a corner. Harding sent it over, the ball bounced about and a lunging Clarke prodded the ball home.

I'd forgotten about the incident before the corner. Betsy really should have done a lot better there but I suppose first game and acres of space is often more likely to make things go wrong.

With the corner, I think it showed why so many of ours are hitting the first man. To keep the flight low enough to be attacked as it was when we scored, you give yourself probably a 2 foot channel in which to whip the ball. A lot of them didn't work but if one goes through at that height then it's often work it. The variation worked well in the first half too where Barrett had a free header and probably should have done betterbut only by his goalscoring standards.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

With the corner, I think it showed why so many of ours are hitting the first man. To keep the flight low enough to be attacked as it was when we scored, you give yourself probably a 2 foot channel in which to whip the ball.

I've always said the same - if it's a choice between a whipped delivery which might get cut out sometimes or a Kevin Maher style "flighted" delivery which, if delivered within 10 yards of goal, the keeper has an eternity to stroll out and deal with, give me the former every time.

 

[Ricky Otto]

We struggled to create much up front. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I just don't think that we're suited to the 'big man up top'. We've had a whole succession of players flop in that role and I can't honestly say I was inspired by Furlong today either. That's not a knock against him, I just think we'd be better off with somebody like Walker playing behind Barnard and bridging the sometimes gaping gap between midfield and attack.

I agree, we have done so well the last few seasons as a footballing side and a Walker Barnard front line is certainly a more attractive proposition. I do however think Furlong can be a valuable squad player this season and can giive us that big man up front option if we are up against opposition we cant play through.

 

[sufcintheprem]

I've always said the same - if it's a choice between a whipped delivery which might get cut out sometimes or a Kevin Maher style "flighted" delivery which, if delivered within 10 yards of goal, the keeper has an eternity to stroll out and deal with, give me the former every time.

Indeed, you only need to look at Keates' corners which, barring one decent headed chance that floated wide, were bread and butter for our defence. This from someone who is something of a lower league set piece specialist too. To be honest, the one that was headed towards goal had so little pace on that it would be difficult to score from.

I was pretty happy with our set pieces yesterday and not just because of the goal.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

Indeed, you only need to look at Keates' corners which, barring one decent headed chance that floated wide, were bread and butter for our defence. This from someone who is something of a lower league set piece specialist too. To be honest, the one that was headed towards goal had so little pace on that it would be difficult to score from.

I was pretty happy with our set pieces yesterday and not just because of the goal.

I'd have Francis firing them in from the left rather than the Moose for that same reason. Francis can put in some great side-footed crosses.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Just noticed in one of the pull outs from today's papers that Peter Clarke was in the L1 team of the week.

 

[sadsy]

All in all a win against a side hyped-up to do well this season was a great result. Peterboro looked good for the first 15 mins with Boyd getting far too much room in midfield.After that they were pretty anonymous as an attacking force.

As for Southend we didn't really play at all until the last half hour,understandable really with so many new faces. However the defence looked very solid. Harding looks decent although his set piece delivery isn't a patch on Mulgrew. We definitely missed Macca in midfield. I was also quite disappointed with Furlong , would rather see Walker up there with Barney as long as we keep it on the floor !! Scannell flattered to deceive a little and Moussa still looks a little out of his depth, but both can only get better with games. I'd still like Grant in the side, there's something about "Snoop".

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

I like the look of Grant too, seems to buzz around a bit more than Moussa. I think Franck still has to convince himself not just the fans that he can be a great player. His passing ability can be very good at times, but bad at others. I'd perservere because like Scannell I think the more games they play the better they will get.

 

[Pubey]

All in all a win against a side hyped-up to do well this season was a great result. Peterboro looked good for the first 15 mins with Boyd getting far too much room in midfield.After that they were pretty anonymous as an attacking force.

As for Southend we didn't really play at all until the last half hour,understandable really with so many new faces. However the defence looked very solid. Harding looks decent although his set piece delivery isn't a patch on Mulgrew. We definitely missed Macca in midfield. I was also quite disappointed with Furlong , would rather see Walker up there with Barney as long as we keep it on the floor !! Scannell flattered to deceive a little and Moussa still looks a little out of his depth, but both can only get better with games. I'd still like Grant in the side, there's something about "Snoop".

i wasn't at the game... but i'm sure i just watched a superb Harding corner for Clarkeys goal. a bit harsh to write his set-pieces off after one game with one leading to a goal, it looked excellent to me!

 

[Hooly]

i wasn't at the game... but i'm sure i just watched a superb Harding corner for Clarkeys goal. a bit harsh to write his set-pieces off after one game with one leading to a goal, it looked excellent to me!

To be fair some of his other dead balls lacked the pace that Mulgrew used to put on them, but certainly with the corners in front of the North Bank I reckon he was having trouble with the slope up to the quadrant & that was affecting his delivery. Hopefully that's just a matter of practice.

The one concern for me about him was how little he won in the air. Tilly wanted a tall bloke at LB but Harding looked very weak in competing for long balls, but again hopefully after a bit of settling in he'll be ok.

 

[sadsy]

Wasn't writing him off just an observation on yesterday. Took plenty of corners and free kicks that either didn't beat the first man or didn't have any pace on them, let's hope he can improve

 

[Pubey]

To be fair some of his other dead balls lacked the pace that Mulgrew used to put on them, but certainly with the corners in front of the North Bank I reckon he was having trouble with the slope up to the quadrant & that was affecting his delivery. Hopefully that's just a matter of practice.

fair enough.. like i said i wasn't there. a lot of new players have problems with the slope (hammell especially comes to mind) but after a few games I'm sure he'll improve, and we'll score more often than not when balls like the Clarke goal are put in

 

[Lord Zoltan]

As said on here earlier we started slowly but really improved in the second half. I'm sure Harding will improve once he becomes more settled. I also thought that his set-piece delivery started off rather poor [a few times not beating the first man] - but this improved culminating with Clarke's goal.

Francis' was generally solid and was unlucky not to release Barnard/Furlong with a couple of incisive passes. No doubt Francis will be a big player for us this season.

I thought Walker's second half performance was really encouraging and I feel he's going to be a key man as the season progresses.

Mildenhall done OK in difficult conditions, however did induce a heart-stopping moment when he punched the ball.

Clarke/Barrett's partnership has become very solid and was able to effectively reduce the Boroughs highley[?] rated front-two to a few chances. It will be a shame to lose Clarke and hopefully he will see sense and sign up.

Haven't seen enough of Grant to make up my mind - but with his pedigree he should be decent enough. No doubt Tilly has seen enough in training to make an informed decision, so that's good enough for me.

Bailey's first half was memorable only for the missed-placed passes, he improved second half. Not the best I've seen him play, but he done OK.

Scannell done OK, but didn't really get into it. Had a decent snap-shot just over the bar. He needs to improve his defensive play also - he seems willing to get back, but positionally he was poor a few times, leaving the left-back exposed. Another one who will get better with a few more games and increased fitness.

Moussa, for me not ready yet. Only looking after Macca's spot until his return from injury. Still one for the future.

Furlong/Barnard partnership was OK. Barnard, as ever making a nuisance of himself and chasing lost causes. Furlong done allright, had a decent shot in the second half. Good positioning and decent strength - I thought he would win more in the air to be honest though.
The front two did lack good service and their lack of chances were probably attributed to us not having a creative presence in midfield.

Thats my thoughts.

Overall a good performance against a highly rated [aledgedly!] team. I'm confident that with 2-3 more signings we will have a decent season.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I think anyone criticising Harding would do well to bear in mind he had 2 incidents which may well have caused him more than a slight headache, I thought he did really well considering how little time he's had to fit in.

 

[Kris]

A few thoughts on yesterday. I was relieved we got to half-time at 0-0 because Peterborough looked by far the more composed side in the first half. OK, they didn't create that much but their possession was good and they looked particularly pacey and dangerous on the break. We, on the other hand, were wasteful in possession and tried to play too many killer balls over the top from too deep.

The second half was a different story. We were far more confident in possession, used the width of the pitch much better and started to pen Peterborough back inside their own half.

Nicky Bailey was absolutely awesome and, although delighted we won, I was actually quite worried walking out of Roots Hall because he's going to leave one hell of a hole in the side when he inevitably departs. His positioning was spot on and some of his tackling was the best I've ever seen from a Southend midfielder. Hopefully we can make a compromise with Nicky to keep him for the time being - ideally until January but if not then at least until McCormack returns from injury when we can then loan him with view to a permanent move.

James Walker put in a very encouraging performance, too. Playing on the wing may not be his best position but he did very well yesterday and his general touch and use of the ball was very good. And at least we know that he gives us another option in wide areas.

Mildenhall made a decent debut. His occasionally wobbly handling is a slight worry but he commanded his box well and hopefully his presence will compensate for Barrett and Clarke's lack of height.

Not much came off for Paul Furlong but it was pleasing to see him last the majority of the 90 minutes. Scannell still looks a little short of full match fitness but hopefully he'll get that soon.

Harding made a solid if unspectacular debut but his use of the ball was generally pretty good.

Next week against Millwall I think we'll have to play slightly differently. We were very open at times yesterday and occasionally exposed in wide areas. I'm not sure we'll get away with that away from home. Therefore I think we should seriously consider playing Grant from the start on the right to give us some extra protection and bite in midfield and dropping one of Scannell or Walker - possibly the former (Scannell could be an excellent impact sub in the short term).

The pleasing thing is that, despite still having a relatively thin squad, we now have a number of options to change things during games, whether attackingly or defensively.